Unknown Studio Anti-Racist Action Plan
We are inspired by the 2020 Black Lives Matter Protests, and like many of our peers and colleagues, are dedicating time and resources to provide meaningful impact that goes beyond words of solidarity. Living, practicing and working in a Black city, we understand that our studio has opportunity for direct everyday action and support of BLM, in addition to an opportunity for leadership in revolutionizing how design can diversify, and contribute to an anti-racist future.
This is a preliminary list and will be continually revised and strengthened over time.
1. Invite and Amplify Black Voices in Design
Unknown Studio’s leadership will dedicate time outside of the studio towards mentorship and introduction of landscape architecture to Black and minority communities of all ages, particularly in Baltimore City’s K-12 Public Schools. We will invest our personal time and energy by sharing the rewards and importance of landscape architecture, with an aim to encourage the diversification of our field. We believe that broadening knowledge and access to our field is fundamental, and awareness of professional opportunities can start young.
2. Support and Seek Talent from HBCU Design Programs
Baltimore is home to Morgan State University, an Historically Black University (HBCU), with accredited programs in architecture and the only accredited Graduate Degree in Landscape Architecture (MLA) at an HBCU. Unknown Studio dedicates time on reviews and juries at Morgan and will continue to actively seek interns and full time hires from Morgan State on a year-round basis.
3. Direct Financial Investment
On an annual basis, our studio donates the total of all lecture or academic honoraria and stipends to Baltimore-based non-profits. Our criteria for organizations receiving donations are dedication to anti-racist work, green job training, green infrastructure, food sovereignty, public health, and environmental justice.
In addition, Unknown Studio makes annual contributions to organizations that offer Landscape Architecture-related scholarships focusing on broadening inclusivity in the field for women and minorities. In the past we have given consistently to WxLA and The Landscape Architecture Foundation. Going forward, we will continue supporting scholarships for women and minorities and identify and support additional scholarships for Black landscape architecture students. Broadening access to the field must include broad inclusion of minorities and women, but fundamentally, must proactively support racial justice and the BLM movement.
4. Pro-bono Work
Unknown Studio offers pro-bono landscape architecture services for diverse communities in the City of Baltimore annually, working directly with community groups, non-profits, and local leaders to envision, design, and deliver projects that bolster quality and quantity of green space in our beloved and beautiful City.
5. Ongoing Betterment in Design Projects and the Studio
This list is a work in progress offering tangible actions. We will also measure, critique, welcome input, and discuss our own progress at furthering anti-racist design and actions in all projects, commissions, and research within our studio. We will seek to hear, understand and include BIPOC perspectives in all the work we do.
